A SUMMARY REPORT ON THE LINKS BETWEEN AL QAE’ DA
TERRORIST
NETWORK AND THE LIBERATION TIGERS OF TAMIL EELAM
(LTTE)
Compiled and
written by:
Dr. Rohan Gunaratne Ph.D.
British Chevening Scholar
Author of six books of armed conflict
Research Associate,
Center for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence
University of St. Andrews
Fife, Scotland, U.K.
February 20, 2002
CIRCULATION
RESTRICTED:
Since the beginning of the contemporary wave
of terrorism in the Middle East in 1968, terrorist groups differing in their
ideologies have forged alliances to achieve tactical aims and objectives. The
Al Qae'da – LTTE relationship comes within this category.
* Al
Qae'da is an international group primarily of Middle Eastern nationals located
in Asia. Its support and operational network spans about 60 countries. Al
Qae'da is driven by Islamic ideology.
The group has conducted three land suicide attacks (including the
assassination of Ahmed Shah Masood), one maritime suicide attack, and four
airborne suicide attacks (Sept 2001 est.).
*
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is a domestic group fighting to create
a mono-ethnic Tamil state. Its support network disseminating propaganda,
recruiting, financing, training, procuring weapons and dual-technology equipment
and shipping - spans about 50 countries. The LTTE is driven by ethnonationalist
ideology. The group has conducted 220 land (including the assassination of
Rajiv Gandhi Former Prime Minster of India) and maritime attacks (May 2001
est.).
The Al
Qae'da - LTTE relationship was formed in 1991. Since then three
foreign intelligence agencies have reported Al Qae'da - LTTE transactions.
(1)
Forged/adapted documents:
The LTTE established a presence in the
Philippines in the early 1990s for the purpose of purchasing weapons and facilitating its human
smuggling operations into Canada. Under Surendren Ponaiya @ Chunjen, the LTTE
established a working relationship with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf Group, two groups in the Philippines that have
benefited from Al Qae'da training and financial support. The LTTE cell in the
Philippines provided Al Qae'da cell in the Philippines led by Ramzi
Ahmed Yousef with forged and adapted
identity documents. The LTTE has specialized knowledge of forging and adapting
visas, passports, and other identity papers. After bombing the World Trade
Centre in 1993, Yousef who was based in the Philippines was planning and
preparing to launch Oplan Bojinka yet another Al Qaeda operation in 1994. Oplan
Bojinka’s intended targets were bombing of 11 US airliners over the Pacific;
assassinating visiting US president Clinton, Pope John Paul the II, and
Philippines President Fidel Ramos; destroying several foreign missions; and
kidnapping several prominent persons including foreign envoys.
(2)
Training:
Throughout the 1990s, reports from
Afghanistan confirmed the presence of LTTE members imparting military training
to Asian and Arab nationals. This Included:
(a) A report from a
British specialist who visited Afghanistan in the early 1990s
(b) Debriefing in Musafarabad, Azad Kashmir
of a Pakistani Inter-Services-Intelligence (ISI) officer in 1995
(c) Debriefing in New Delhi in October 2001
of a member of a Kashmiri group who observed the presence of 10-15 LTTE trainers
in the Shinuwari camp in Afghanistan.
In addition to conducting basic and advanced
training conducted inside Afghanistan, Al Qae'da training teams that visited
regional conflicts included LTTE members. For instance, Al Qae'da's training
teams that imparted specialized training to MILF and ASG members comprised of
LTTE members. The following instances confirm the relationship.
In 1995 an 1998, an LTTE combat tactician
and an LTTE explosives expert accompanying groups of Al Qae'da Arabs trained
members of the MILF.
In 1999, an LTTE combat tactician
accompanying a group of Al Qae'da Arabs trained members of the ASG.
One of the trainers has been identified as
the same person arrested and charged for possession of narcotics in Italy in
the 1980s. [Although the LTTE has denied its role in trafficking narcotics as a
source of revenue, V. Manoharan, the current head of the LTTE International
Secretariat, Paris, was fined 120,000 francs on March 25, 1985 and was
imprisoned for three years in France for possession of heroin. During this
period, the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran authorized that his salary be
paid to his wife indicating the group's complicity in the crime.]
At the behest of Al Qae'da, LTTE trained Al
Ummah members in Tamil Nadu, India.
(3)
Shipping and logistics:
The LTTE is one of the few terrorist groups
in the world with a state of the art shipping network. Al Qae'da has used LTTE
ships to transport weapons and trainees to distant theatres. From 1995 onwards,
LTTE ships have transported Al Qae'da weapons to a number of groups.
LTTE ships transported weapons from Karachi
provided by Al Qae'da through its affiliate Harakatul Ansar (known as Harakatul
Mujahidin after US designation in October 1997). The recipient was ASG.
LTTE ships transported both weapons and
trainees (back and forth) to a port in Turkey from Karachi. The weapons were
provided by Harkatul Ansar an affiliate of Al Qae'da for the purpose of
fighting in Chechnya. The recipient was Al Ansar (Foreign) Mujahidin in
Chechnya led by Khatab, a
protege of Usama Bin Laden.
(4) The Al Qae'da - LTTE relationship has
enhanced Al Qae'da technologies and tactics. As the world's leader in suicide
terrorism, the LTTE has perfected Al Qae'da's land and sea suicide technologies
and tactics.
The LTTE is one of the first terrorist
groups to consider the use of airborne vehicles to attack land-based targets.
Throughout the 1990s, the LTTE trained and purchased air vehicles from the UK,
France and Australia for the purpose of conducting an airborne suicide attack.
When the LTTE attacked and destroyed several
Sri Lankan passenger and military airliners at Katunayake in July 2001, the
intention of two pilot members of the attacking team was to hijack one airliner
and crash dive it on to the presidential residence.
There is a remarkable similarity in the Al
Qae'da attack on the USS Cole in Aden, October 2001, and the LTTE attack on the
Sri Lankan naval vessel Abheeta, off Jaffna, Sri Lanka, May 1991.
(5)
Visit of KP:
Tharmalingam Shanmugham Kumaran alias
Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP), the Chief Procurement and Logistics officer of the
LTTE, based in Thailand visited Afghanistan in May 2001. The purpose of his
visit was to meet with the Al Qae'da leadership. He flew Bangkok, Dubai,
Karachi return using an Indian
travel document under the name Venket Ram.